We are beyond excited to be purchasing our first home after 18+ years of renting!!!
I knew the process could become frustrating. I knew we'd have hiccups. But I didn't know that THEE perfect house for us would be THEE most difficult house to obtain...
If you told me back in early October that we'd be under contract for my dream home *my affordable dream home* by the end of the month, I would have laughed in your face.
We had been watching the market for months. Houses in the summer 2021 market would disappear as quickly as they were listed. So many houses we fell in love with through photos had came and went.
People asked us, "Why don't you virtually buy if you are afraid of losing a house you see and like?"
I was almost talked into it, but my husband wasn't as easily convinced. And I am now glad he stuck to his guns.
We wanted our first home buying experience to be a traditional one. Taking tours, seeing the neighborhoods, feeling a place in person. And that's exactly what we did. We toured five houses before going under contract for the second one we saw. Here are a few fun photos/videos of some of the house tours we did:
What's interesting is that THEE house had only been on the market for three days and had only one photo online, anywhere. I Googled and searched like the super sleuth I am, and nothing. Probably because -on record- the house hasn't been sold since 2001 AND the current seller's realtor is kinda sorta lazy. I'll get to that in a sec.
We arrived at the house blindly, not knowing what it looked like inside. But once I walked in, it was THEE house that I would eventually compare every other house to. Here are some sneak peek pics I took in the beginning stages of the seller's repairs:
Then we toured five more houses WHILE under contract. Lemme explain...
The house we are under contract for has been a RoCkY RoAd of ups and downs. My realtor (and her broker), my loan processor, the home inspector and even our real estate attorney have worked their asses off to make this house happen for us. FROM DAY ONE.
The house is perfect.
But the seller is an investor who didn't quite have his ducks in a row before listing it. And the seller's agent is another blog post of his own....let's just say he doesn't have the greatest response time, manners or even reputation. Even their attorney is involved and this guy doesn't exactly have the best Yelp/Google reviews this side of the Mississippi.
While we have a wonderful team on our side that works quickly, thoroughly and gives no bullshit, the seller's team is highly disorganized.
My proof?
We were originally supposed to be closing THIS VERY MORNING that I am typing this post. And that's not the case. Our closing had to be pushed back because of the seller, not us.
The inspector found some big ticket things that we could not ignore, so we asked for them to be fixed. The seller agreed.
And we are using my husband's VA benefit to back our loan. When that appraisal came back, it revealed some little things we already had listed in our contingencies.
The seller has been absolutely wonderful at agreeing to repair, replace or fix everything we want, but he moves on it at a glacial pace. He even asked if we wanted a specific color for the front door, which was nice of him to even consider our thoughts on it. As an investor (and not a small-time investor. His family owns chains of hotels, rentals/airbnbs here), one would thing he could make a call and have someone on top of the work the next day. That's what he suggested was going on. But the day that his agent stated everything was COMPLETE, it wasn't. That was last week. We had found out that the biggest issue he needed to fix (a rotting subfloor in two areas, and rotted joists) hadn't even got started.
And then the seller's attorney throws a last minute wrench into our closing time, SIX days before closing: He explains the house is still attached to a probate case and he has no idea when the title paperwork can clear the court.
DA FUCK?
Don't you think it pertinent to explain this the day we put an offer in? Maybe give a family a heads up IF you have no control over the title, the courts, etc,. If you know that there's no end in sight for getting the title clear, how can you even assume a closing date?
Unprofessional.
Our entire team went ape shit on these people after learning this.
Our offer was submitted and accepted on October 21st. They did not shed light on this very important title matter until November 24th!!!! My lender will not fund my loan unless title is clear. No lender will fund any loan without a clear title.
Someone began an email thread (that my husband and I are left out of), and the seller's side and our side have been sending the most passive-aggressive emails back and forth. I won't say whom, but one person involved has sent me screenshots of some of the emails. The drama is *almost* comical...but not entirely laughable when it involves my sanity, my living situation, my fat loan, my time.
So, before that wonderful piece of information came about, we had other heartaches that made us question if this deal would even go through; if we should walk away; if the seller would back out, and so on. When the road was getting too rocky, we'd tour a house as a sort-of backup plan in this fast moving market (still going strong in November 2021). When the road felt smooth, we didn't entertain touring anything.
After TEN houses, I'm still sold on this same house and cannot be persuaded otherwise.
Maybe I am the problem? Too stubborn to settle for less. Too dumb to know when a deal is souring?
Yes. I am the problem.
We could've walked away long ago, but here we are, still fighting for this house to be ours. As of yesterday's amendment to contract, our new closing is set for December 8th.
And I swear, if it changes again because of the seller, my first garden tool purchase for the home will be a pitchfork...
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